:::this is the way the world ends:::

Month: February 2008

Fasting Again

I will be fasting for thirty hours again to raise money for hunger relief next weekend. If you want to contribute to this cause you can send a check made out to World Vision to my home address. Any gesture is appreciated and will be put to good use.

Atonement (The movie)

Sara and I managed to get out for a brief evening for my birthday (my Jesus year is over). We had a nice dinner and went to see Atonement.

Things I liked about the film:
1) It is really quite subtle and actually relies entirely at certain points on the actors ability to communicate simply through expressions and body language.
2) The visuals are strong, both beautiful and repelling.
3) The chronology and storytelling are engaging (though even I haven’t read the book it is obvious there was some chopping of details).
4) Its ending makes you think and reflect about its themes quite effectively, forgiveness, judgment, the imagination, class, etc.

Things I wonder about:
1) I am familiar with only one other story by McEwan, Black Dogs. I like Atonement better. Both stories rely on a rape as a central part of the plot. Even though this may even have metaphorical implications beyond traditional plot devices, it struck me as a bit strange.

Maybe those of you who have read more McEwan can comment. I wondered about this because Atonement seems to be about reality versus fiction and the power of fiction to redeem real life mistakes. Any thoughts on this?

I will say that we both thought the movie was a powerful and dramatic story. Just that one thing came up in our discussion.

U2-3D

If you haven’t yet seen U2-3D, I highly recommend getting to your closest IMAX theater to take it in. It gives a whole new experience to “Vertigo.” There are some amazing shots, and the 3D quality of it is such that you feel you could reach out and take Bono’s glasses right off his face. It also gives you some of the little details of what goes on up on stage–Larry Mullen’s orange Fanta, for example. The set list is very good, and while it can’t quite capture actually being at the concert, it’s the closest thing available. Even just some of the shots over the crowd are remarkable, and the whole film gives you the virtual experience of what it must be like to be walking out on those catwalks in front of thousands of people. I think the film is in limited release now, but supposed to be wider in the next few weeks. I’m not sure it will be coming to the Hutchinson Cosmosphere, however…

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